Huh Chang-soo, chairman of South Korea’s eighth-largest conglomerate GS Group, warned against excessive fear or blind optimism in combating multiple challenges that have cast dark clouds over Korean Inc.

“We need to critically assess the business environment, formulate action plans for different scenarios, and push through with confidence and courage,” Huh told 150 executives at a quarterly meeting Wednesday held in GS headquarters in Seoul.

Huh said Korea is battling with structural problems such as low birthrate and aging population as well as global uncertainties triggered from the protracted trade dispute between the United States and China and Korea’s own trade row with Japan.

Recession fears are mounting with Korea’s exports sliding for the ninth month in a row and investment and domestic consumption both faltering, he said.

During such tough times, the only way out is to return to the basics, Huh said. He cited GS Engineering & Construction and how the builder managed to win apartment renewal projects in a sharply cooling construction market with its brand competitiveness and renewed focus on quality.

Huh encouraged executives to double down on exploiting new business opportunities. As part of this effort, GS Home Shopping last month held a networking event with Vietnamese venture companies to help Korean startups gain ground in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. Since 2011, the home shopping operator has made direct and indirect investments of more than 300 billion won ($253 million) in 500 startups at home and abroad.

“We need to build a system that catalogues our experiences of success and failure to share across the company,” Huh said. “We should bolster our competitiveness by cultivating a culture that strives for constant learning.”

By Won Ho-sup and Kim Hyo-jin

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